Mitchell Pilots Rutgers to Upset of No. 8 Georgetown

PISCATAWAY – Jonathan Mitchell didn’t miss a shot until 11:22 left in the second half and his career high 24 points would help be the deciding factor as the Scarlet Knights (13-12, 3-9) beat a top ten team for the first time since 2003 as they upset the No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas (18-6, 8-5), 71-68, at the RAC Saturday night.

The two teams kept it close the entire game as they would flip flop between five ties and nine lead changes in the first half alone.

Mike Rosario started the game off right for the Scarlet Knights hitting a jumper that would ignite a 7-2 Rutgers run. You could tell early on that Rutgers was very picky with their shot selections and extremely patience with the Hoyas zone defense.

Later in the first half, Rutgers smothering zone defense forced Georgetown into making frantic turnovers that would lead to another 9-2 run for Rutgers to put the score at 24-18 Rutgers.

With Hamady Ndiaye on the bench with foul trouble, Georgetown finally found a way around the Scarlet Knights zone defense by retaliating with their own 10-2 run to take the lead at 28-26.

It was a rough first half for the stars from opposing teams. Greg Monroe of the Hoyas managed five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field. After Rosario began the game with the first bucket, he would eventually miss his next eight shots in the first half. Six of those misses were from three and he ended the half with only two points. Ndiaye only played nine minutes thanks to two personal fouls.

On a good note, Mitchell was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor with 10 points as the Scarlet Knights entered the locker room at half with a confident 33-32 lead.

Out of the gates in the second half, Rutgers let Mitchell continue his perfection, as he would initiate his own 8-2 run to put Rutgers up 41-34.

Greg Monroe got Georgetown back in the game on a three point play that was part of a 13-3 Hoyas run that would put them on top 49-47.

Rutgers would retain the lead a couple minutes later on a Dane Miller layup.

With under a minute to play, Monroe backed down Ndiaye and dropped in a layup to give Georgetown the lead, 66-65.

After a Rutgers timeout, Miller acrobatically tipped in a Rosario miss to hand Rutgers back the lead.

Austin Freeman’s free throws with six seconds left would put the Hoyas within one. Three seconds later, Jonathan Mitchell clinched the game for Rutgers on two free throws.

A desperation three pointer by Freeman bounced off the backboard and left Fred Hill on the side lines doing a Tiger Woods’ fist pump, while his squad celebrated with each other at center court.

Jonathan Mitchell’s career high led all scorers with 24 points. Dane Miller kicked in 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Hamady Ndiaye added 11 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers had a season-low eight turnovers.

Greg Monroe missed his 10th double-double on the season, leading the Hoyas with 19 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Austin Freeman contributed 17 points and Hollis Thompson helped out with 10 points off the bench.